


A Different Sort of 'Three Days Later'

by Silverkleptofox



Series: Letters from Camp [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Ghosts, M/M, Ouija, nico is a badass, supernatural themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-08 18:17:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7768240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverkleptofox/pseuds/Silverkleptofox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ouija boards are banned at Camp Half-Blood for a reason.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Different Sort of 'Three Days Later'

**Author's Note:**

> This work is based on a tumblr prompt by diangelosarmy.

It was a bright sunny Saturday in July at Camp Half-Blood, and Will Solace was excited. Being summer, Lady Persephone was out and about in the living world, which meant Hades often called his son Nico, who happened to be Will's boyfriend, down into the underworld to 'help out.' Secretly Will and Nico both knew that Hades was just lonely and wanted his son around, but for years that would mean Nico's entire summer was spent beneath the earth. Not this year- this year Nico had a doctor’s note.

And so, it being Saturday, Nico was coming to camp to get some sunshine and barbecue for the weekend; and of that 'sunshine' happened to include hanging out with Apollo's favourite son, Will wasn't complaining. 

He waited by the doors of cabin thirteen for Nico to emerge. Nico was finally strong enough to shadow travel to and from the underworld once a week, and he was getting better at aiming. He usually emerged in his own cabin. The door creaked open and there he was in all his rumpled and sallow glory. Will's face lit up with a grin and Nico huffed a wry smile. 

"Breakfast?" Will said. Nico nodded. 

\-------

"...and then Paolo lost another finger, and oh! Leo and dad stopped by. He was telling me all about their quest while I was giving him a physical and that idiot got too excited, burst into flame, and ruined my stethoscope." Will said around a mouthful of eggs while Nico gingerly picked at his bacon. Every Saturday morning Will would update him on what had happened during the week while Nico ate.  
"He left before he could fix it." Will continued. "Harley says he'll make me a new one but who knows with that kid, he's got a thousand different projects going on at once, it'll probably take him a year to remember one stethoscope." His shoulders drooped with all the flair of a teenage theatre nerd. Nico looked over to the adjoining table to see the subject of their conversation. Harley was talking with Malcolm, the stand-in councilor for the Athena cabin, and a short dark-haired girl whom he couldn't place.

"Who's that?" He asked his boyfriend.

Will turned to look. "Oh! That's Jenna. One of Hecate's kids. She's been here a couple years, but she only shows up in the summer so you've probably never met." Satisfied, Nico nodded and turned back to picking at his bacon. He kept an eye on the three younger demigods surreptitiously. They were huddled at the end of the Hephaestus table with their heads close and speaking in whispers. That was never a good sign. 

"Will." He said softly. The son of Apollo acknowledged him with a hum. "Keep an eye on those three for me, alright? I've got a feeling."

"Nico, are your ears buzzing?" Will whispered in concern.

"No, but there's an aura. It's faint. Just be aware." 

Will nodded and he and Nico went back to their breakfasts. 

\-------

It was cloudy on Sunday night as Will and Nico said their goodbyes for the week and Nico melted into the shadows back to the underworld. He could see the waxing moon glowing through the cover, and it reminded Will of his auntie Artemis. He hoped she was doing well. He was walking back to the dining pavilion when he heard something from behind the building. 

"Are you sure it will work?" Came a lilting voice in whispered tones.

"Of course! I made it myself, it has to work!" That was Harley. Will stepped closer, quietly. 

"I still don't think any of this works in the first place." That sounded like Malcolm. "I mean seriously, using a piece of wood to contact the dead? It's preposterous."

"It's not a piece of wood- he’s using celestial bronze- it's a Ouija board, it's magic, and that's why you're joining us- to see for yourself." Said the first voice. 

"You're going to get us in so much trouble, Jenna." Said Malcolm. "Ouija boards are banned at camp- if Chiron finds out..."

"That's why we're using the bunker to test it out." Harley interrupted. "I can lock the door and it'll be just the three of us."

"... Alright." Malcolm conceded. "Tomorrow at midnight, I'll meet you there."

Well, at least they weren't planning to sneak out of camp and go on a dangerous un-sanctioned quest. It was just a case of harmless pre-teen rebellion.  
\---------

The next evening, Jenna and Malcolm snuck out of their cabins and into the woods where bunker nine resided. Harley quietly opened the latch and then locked it behind them. Various projects littered the workbenches, and grease stains lined the peg-laden and tool-filled walls. A small table near the back had been cleared, and on it sat a rectangle of celestial bronze with various letters etched into it. A "yes" and "no" filled the upper corners, and a set of numbers from 1 to 0 lined the bottom. The center was filled with 26 letters. A triangular piece of bronze with a glass disc in the middle sat atop the board, glinting in the soft candlelight. 

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Harley beamed, watching the others inspect his work. He had been apprehensive at first about making a Ouija board- he had never seen or used one before, and he couldn't exactly look it up on Google at camp- but he was proud of the outcome. 

Malcolm inspected the piece thoroughly. "It is very well crafted, Harley, I'll give you that, but are you sure it will work?"

"Of course it will." Replied Jenna with confidence. "If a piece of paper and a CD works, this beauty certainly will. Now let's get started!" She sat at the table and motioned for the others to join her. "Malcolm, you'll be our documenter." 

Malcolm nodded and brought out a pen and pad of paper.

"Harley, you'll be our energizer. Put your hands on the planchette…"

"You mean the triangle thing?"

"…Yes. But make sure not to say anything. I'll do the talking. Got it?" 

The boys nodded, and Harley's hands joined Jenna's on the board. Immediately it started to move.

"Spirit..." Jenna asked calmly. "What is your name?" 

The planchette scooted across the board to the letter E, then to L, and so forth, until it spelled out a name.

"Elizabeth." Malcolm confirmed. 

"Elizabeth, when did you die?" Jenna asked. The planchette moved once more: 1-9-2-7. Malcolm scrubbed in his notebook. "Ask how." He suggested. 

Jenna complied. "Elizabeth, how did you die?"

Her and Harley's hands stayed still for a moment, before following the piece of bronze around the board. P-N-U...

"Pneumonia?" Malcolm suggested, and the planchette shot over to where "yes" was engraved on the board. 

"Huh." Malcolm mused. "Well I guess that was pretty common in the early 20th century. How old was she?"

"Elizabeth, when were you born?" Jenna said. 1-8-6-0 spelled the board. 

"So she was 67 years old." Malcolm muttered, jotting down the details. 

Harley huffed. "This is boring, ask something cool! Like... Were you a demigod?"

The marker moved slowly forward, then up, landing on "yes".

Harvey's face lit up. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" He exclaimed. 

"Were you claimed?" Malcolm interjected. 

Jenna scowled, "Guys, I'm supposed to be the one asking the questions! You're going to mess up the-"

The planchette roamed over the board to "no".

The three demigods looked at each other, disappointed. Jenna spoke. "Do you by any chance know who your godly parent was anyway?" 

Suddenly the temperature in the room dropped, and the candles flickered. The bronze piece shuddered under their fingertips and slid to the alphabet.

N-E-M-E-S-I-S

"I think we should stop." Malcolm suggested, his voice trembling. "I mean, Nemesis is the goddess of revenge, what if this is a vengeful spirit?"

Harley rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, don't be a wimp. I'm sure our friend Elizabeth here is a friendly spirit, right Liz?"

The planchette moved, shifting to the alphabet instead of one of the top two corners. Harley and Jenna shared a look of confusion, but followed the piece anyway. 

W-R-O-N-G

Harley immediately drew his hands from the board, and Jenna stood up in fear. 

"Yeah, we're stopping." Harley choked out. Malcolm and Jenna nodded, and blew out the candles as Harley put the board away. They sealed up the bunker and left for their cabins, hoping that would be the end of their little experiment.  
\---------

Tuesday morning saw Will scraping some eggs into the fire for his dad after an early breakfast in preparation for an early shift in the infirmary. He was just about to return his plate to one of the nymphs when he saw Harley storm over to the Hecate table looking angry. He said something to Jenna and they both scurried to the Athena table to talk to Malcolm. He inched closer to hear what was said. 

"If you didn't do it, who did?" Harley hissed.

Jenna' face whitened. "Do you think...? Maybe..."

"That's impossible." Malcolm said. "None of this is real, there's no way..."

Jenna leaned forward on the table to look him in the eye. "After what you saw last night, you still think this isn't real!? We contacted a vengeful spirit! A child of _Nemesis!_ Remember when Harley joked about it? And now he wakes up to find the bunker is trashed, and you think this isn't real? Did you trash the bunker then?"

"Of course not!" Malcolm sputtered. 

Harley crossed his arms and sat back on the bench. "I locked it last night, if anyone had been in there, I would know. No one came in. But somehow every single tool except for one axe has found its way off its peg and onto the floor. There's no other explanation, Malcolm, even you can see that right?"

Malcolm's lips were set in a hard line. "So what do we do?" He whispered.

"We go back tonight." Jenna smiled. 

So they had managed to contact a spirit... And a child of Nemesis at that... Without any damage to persons or property, there was nothing to report to Chiron; just some kids getting into mischief. However... Will had only ever heard of one child of Nemesis that had died: Ethan, and he was definitely someone who would want revenge on the Hephaestus cabin. As Will made his way to the field for camp games, he hoped with all of his heart that he was wrong. 

\-------

"Camp Games" turned out to be a wicked obstacle course with blades and pits and giant poison-spitting ants from the forest (thanks, dad). As such, Will was stuck in the infirmary all night tending to the wounded. Even Damien had been hit, and Will intended to use this opportunity to get more information.

Once all his rounds were done and everyone was stable and attended, he stopped by his cot. 

"Evenin', Damien!" He smiled as he pulled up a chair and checked the acid burns on his arm. "You holding up ok?"

"Yeah I'm alright." He replied. "It just tingles a bit. You worked wonders on it earlier."

"Like magic?" Will wiggled his eyebrows.

He punched him in the arm lightly for that. Will grinned. 

"Say, I've been meaning to ask you. Do you have any knowledge of the children of Nemesis that have passed on? Like a record book or something?"

Damien narrowed his eyes. "You know Jenna? The little Hecate kid? She asked me the same thing today. I told her the same thing: our cabin has only existed officially for two years. We don't have any records from before then, especially not all the way back to the 1800's like Apollo's cabin. Why the sudden interest?" 

"It's nothing, really, just curious." Will smiled sweetly. "Now you get some rest and let that heal up, okay? I'll see you in the morning."

_"Riiiiight...."_ Damien trailed as he settled back onto his cot and Will stepped into his office.

So Jenna had asked about the children of Nemesis, too. Did they not know who their ghost was? Harley and Jenna hadn't been around for the Titan war, they wouldn't know who Ethan was. Would Malcolm? Did he ever hear about the kid who betrayed Camp Half-Blood? Will would have to find out... Tomorrow, after a good night's rest.

\---------

Meanwhile, the three troublemakers were setting up for another round with the spirit of Elizabeth. Just like the previous night, they sat at a table in the bunker by candlelight and called upon her.

"Elizabeth, are you with us?" Jenna asked, her voice shaking ever so slightly. She and Harley felt the planchette pull their fingers to "yes". Jenna let out a shaky breath and continued. "Were you the one who knocked down all the tools?"

They put pressure on the triangle, but it wouldn't budge. "I guess that's a "yes" then." Malcolm muttered. Jenna nodded. 

Harley chose that moment to butt in, much to Jenna's consternation. "What's with the axe?" He sneered.

The planchette shuddered over the center of the board.

K-I-L-L

Jenna looked up at Harley, her eyes wide with shock. 

"Wait wait wait..." Malcolm interjected. "Calm down. Ask who was killed with the axe before jumping to conclusions." 

"Okay." Jenna shivered. "What was killed with an axe?" She asked the spirit.

The planchette moved again.

P-A-R-E-N-T-S

Click-click 

The three demigods jumped at the sound and turned to its source- Malcolm had dropped his pen on the polished stone floor. "S-sorry..." He mumbled. Harley let out the breath he was holding and Jenna slumped in her seat. 

Malcolm cleared his throat. "Someone killed her parents- maybe that's why she wants revenge? It was probably a monster, what monsters do we know that use an axe?" 

Harley shrugged and looked at Jenna. "Any ideas?" Jenna gave him a flat look and rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Ask. Elizabeth, who killed your parents with an axe?"

The planchette moved around the board in a circle once, then twice, and then landed on the number 1.

Jenna looked at Harley as if to say are you doing this? But Harley raised his shoulders be shook his head. Then the planchette moved to 9.

Then back to 1, and 1 again. 

1-9-1-1

"Okay this is ridiculous." Jenna said scathingly. She took her hands off the board and crossed them over her chest. "If you're not going to take this seriously..."

"It's not me, I swear!" Harley interjected, waving his hand for emphasis.

The planchette shifted to 9.

No one was touching it. 

"Did you see that?" Jenna whispered. The boys nodded, a Malcolm audibly swallowed a lump on his throat. They watched the planchette sit there on the board, motionless.

It moved to 8.

Malcolm stood up. "Make it stop."

7

"Now! Make it stop!"

"We're trying! It won't budge, we can't pick it up!" 

6

"Don't let it get to one!"

5

_"Do something!"_

4

CRASH 

The board and planchette clattered against the floor as Malcolm upended the entire table.

"We're done here." He panted. Jenna and Harley nodded. "This thing needs to be locked up."

Jenna picked up the board. "There's a magic box in my cabin, we use it for enchanted items that we can't control."

Malcolm nodded. He reached down to grab the planchette, and brought it up to his face. He peered through the hole in the center before stuffing it into his bag. 

The three of them ran, trembling, from the sealed bunker that night, hoping that whatever they had unleashed would be contained within. 

 

\------  
When Will walked up to the infirmary doors at six on Wednesday morning, he wasn't the first one there.

Jenna was sitting on the porch of the big house with a rag pressed tightly to her hand, looking nervous. She locked eyes with Will and took a deep breath as of preparing herself for a confrontation. Will have his best calming, doctoral smile and unlocked the door. "Come on in, let's take a look at that." He said.

Jenna followed him into the infirmary warily. There was definitely something wrong, but Will knew if he pressed too hard she'd probably clam up and not say anything. He'd had a lot of practice with Nico, after all. He got Jenna settled on a cot and grabbed some basic medical supplies. 

"Alright." He sat on the stool nearby. "Can I see your hand?" 

Jenna carefully brought her hand up from her lap, and Will gently placed his under it. Gingerly, he began to unwrap the cloth from the wound. "You were smart to put pressure on it with this, but you know you can come to cabin nine in an emergency, right? You don't have to wait outside the infirmary."

"I didn't want to bother anyone..." She said quietly. "And it's not really an emergency, it just _hurts._ " 

So it was something she wanted to hide...this close, Will could see that her eyes were peppered with red veins- she hasn't slept well. Jenna winced when he got to the last, blood-soaked layer of cloth and began to slowly peel it from the wound on the palm of her hand. "I'm sorry" he said, "I can hum a quick spell to lessen the pain, would that be alright?"

Jenna nodded quickly, her eyes clenched. Will hummed a little hymn and pressed his palm over the wound before continuing. Slowly, he peeled back the last bit of fabric and placed it on a sterile tray. 

There, carved deep into Jenna's palm in ragged strokes, was what looked like a symbol. 

_XL_

Will bit back a gasp and Jenna refused to make eye contact. "I have to ask, did you do this to yourself?" He asked quietly.

"No!" She nearly shouted. "No... I didn't... I wouldn't... At least I don't think..."

"You don't think?" Will raised an eyebrow. "Who did this to you?"

"I... I'm not sure, it just appeared this morning. It woke me up. I don't know if... Never mind, I ... Never mind."

Will took a deep breath. "Jenna, under doctor-patient confidentiality, I'm sworn to keep anything you tell me secret, unless you could hurt yourself or others." He gently took her uninjured hand and gave it a squeeze. "I already know that you, Harley, and Malcolm have been... _up to something..._ So I think you might want to tell me exactly what happened. I'm not going to get you in trouble, I just want to help you." 

Jenna sniffed once, twice, and then the waterworks began. 

"I...I just wanted to try it, and then Malcolm didn't believe me, and I convinced Harley..." She blubbered, nearly intelligible.

"Hey hey, calm down." Will soothed, stroking her shoulder to help keep her grounded. "You get your thoughts together while I patch this up, and then we'll call the others in and you all can tell me everything, okay?" Jenna nodded and sniffled as Will swabbed her hand with disinfectant and bandaged the jagged cuts.

\-------

Will took a sip of his second cup of coffee and set his gaze upon the three demigods sitting in front of his desk. "So you're telling me that Jenna convinced Harley to make a Ouija board for... _the fun of it?_ And Malcolm, you joined in to see if it would work?"

Malcolm nodded and pulled a small notebook out of his bag. "I recorded all the answers we got and everything that happened, you know- for science. I didn't think any of this was real... but after last night..." He shivered. 

Will sighed. "Okay, tell me what you know."

And they did. They told Will everything, even showing him the records Malcolm had kept, up until the board started counting down. 

"You don't let it get to one, did you?" Will asked with wide eyes. 

"No." Malcolm replied. "I shoved the board off the table before it could. Jenna took it back to her cabin and locked it in a magic box, and Harley locked the bunker. But last night, weird things happened. There were axe marks on my headboard when I woke up this morning, and my cabin-mates report hearing chopping sounds."

"Same here." Harley interjected. "Apparently I was mumbling some old nursery rhyme all night. And you saw what happened to Jenna." He looked toward the small girl with guilt in his eyes. 

Will steepled his fingers together and sighed. "I can tell you right off the bat your first mistake- you didn't close the door. You have to move the planchette to where the board says “goodbye” when you're done, otherwise the spirit is let loose in the mortal plane."

The three younger demigods glanced among themselves before resting on Harley. 

Will raised an eyebrow. "You did remember to etch "goodbye" on the board, right?"

Harry shook his head. 

Will sighed. "You three have gotten yourselves into deep shit, excuse my French. You're going to need professional help. Luckily, I know someone who can help you with your ghost problem." 

Harley and Jenna looked up with hope in their eyes, while Malcolm looked merely intrigued. Will smiled. 

_"Nico."_

He was met with a chorus of questioning "huhs?" and confused glances, so he explained. "Nico isn't just the son of Hades, he's also the Ghost King. It's a position he earned a couple years ago, all spirits are beholden to him. He's in Hades right now, so I'm not sure how you'll contact him, but if you can manage it, there's no one better to banish a vengeful ghost." 

Malcolm shared a glance with Jenna, and nodded. "Say Will, how do you know so much about Ouija boards anyway?" He asked.

Will shrugged. "I've always liked creepy things. Now let's go pulverize a poltergeist! And grab the salt, Jenna. We’re going to do this properly this time." 

That's how Will found himself in the bunker with three younger demigods and a Ouija board at ten o'clock on a Wednesday morning. 

\--------

Nico felt a tug at his consciousness. He had been playing chess with Socrates in the palace drawing room while Hades was in a meeting. It was as if someone said his name. Nico looked around, but no one was there. Socrates raised a transparent eyebrow but Nico brushed him off. He moved his knight, putting Socrates in check. Socrates moved to counter. 

_Nico di Angelo_

There it was again. "Sorry, I have to go." Nico apologized to his chess partner and maneuvered his bishop before leaving. "Checkmate." 

He concentrated, waiting for the sound. 

_Please answer us, Nico di Angelo..._

Then he realized. It was some sort of séance, someone was trying to open a direct line to the underworld, and they were asking for him. 

"Who are you?" He called out to the sky. He felt his message leave, but it was... Slow. Almost like Morse code, or....

Or a Ouija board. 

Damn it. 

\---------  
W-H-O-A-R-E-Y-O-U

Suddenly the planchette moved furiously over the board, so fast that Jenna, Will, and Harley's fingers began slipping.

Y-O-U-I-D-I-O-T-S-W-H-Y-A-R-E-Y-O----

Malcolm's hands clamped over the pile of fast-moving fingers, stopping the planchette from spelling out anything else. 

".... I can't keep up." He stated plainly. Suddenly black smoke began to billow from between his fingers. All your demigods drew their hands back in shock. The smoke continued to rise from the eye of the planchette, twisting and darkening above the table. It coalesced, and the temperature of the room dropped.

One black sneaker thumped onto the table, and out of the smoke stepped Nico di Angelo.

And he was pissed. 

"What the ever-loving hell do you kinds think you’re _doing?_ " He seethed, staring down at the three youngsters with fire in his eyes. Will smirked with approval. Nico ignored him. "Talking boards are banned in camp for a _reason_.”

"But we..."

"...are _demigods._ " Nico continued. "And you know what is especially dangerous for demigods? _Trying to contact the afterlife._. Believe me, I _live there._ Demigods don’t _just_ attract monsters!”

"But it’s not _real,_ " Malcolm stuttered. "It’s just the…"

 

Nico didn't let him finish. "Yes Malcolm I _know_ it’s just the ideomotor effect but that only applies to _mortals_ , just like how the earth’s rotation causing sunrise and sunset is just for mortals- but YOU KNOW BETTER. And you, Jenna, your mother is _Hecate._ You of all people should know not to meddle with spirits.”

"We’re sorry! Please help us.” Jenna begged, her hands clasped on the table. 

 

Nico faltered, all the fire leaving his eyes for a moment to be replaced by glassy and restrained confusion. “….. Of course, I wouldn't have come if I wasn't going to help you out." Did these children really think he wouldn't help them? What did they take him for, a monster? Nico looked to the corner of the room where he could sense the dark energy of a malicious ghost. He knew this spirit, he had met her in the fields of punishment, forever chopping at a tree that would never fall. "Do you even know who you've summoned?”

"A demigod? Named Elizabeth?" Malcolm trembled. So no, they had no idea. Nico sighed and waved his hand, still standing on the table. The spirit slowly came into focus. It was indeed a woman with greying brown hair and wide eyes, dressed in an old nightgown. She appeared to be straining against some sort of unseen bond at the edge of the wide circle of salt that Will had insisted they pour around the table. 

"Yes. Elizabeth Andrew Borden. _Lizzie Borden._ Famous axe-muderer. You’re lucky you got her and not Jack.”

"The ripper?” Harley whispered.  
Nico sneered "No, Jack-in-the-box _of course Jack the Ripper._ ” He massaged his brow with two fingers. Will could see the stress lines forming at the corners of his eyes and mouth, but refrained from commenting just yet." 

"Can… can you fix it?” Jenna asked timidly. 

Nico released the breath he was holding and looked at her calmly. 

"I’m the Ghost King." He stepped down from the table with heavy footfalls and walked to the corner where Lizzie's ghost struggled. She opened her mouth to scream at him, but nothing came out. Nico calmly raised his hands, palms lowered to the floor. The ground shook, and a chasm opened in the polished stone. Darkness rose like smoke from the crag, and skeletal hands clawed their way up to pull the vengeful spirit back into Hades where she belonged. Nico strode to the table and picked up the Ouija board, and tossed that into the underworld for good measure. 

The earth groaned and hissed as Nico sealed the crack. "Next time...you want to talk to spirits...just… _ask me?_ Okay?" He panted, breathless. "I can summon them- anyone in the underworld- safely, and it's _way_ cooler than this. Seriously, you used this piece of trash when I live less than 500 feet from you? I’m offended." He rolled his eyes. 

Harley stood, indignant. "Hey, I made that piece of trash!” He stated firmly. 

Nico tilted his head sardonically. "...And you made it without a “goodbye” sigil at the bottom. You were incapable of closing the door and sending her back to the Underworld. No wonder she was haunting you, you forgot to banish her!”

Harley wilted. "Oh."

Nico's anger deflated. They were just kids, experimenting for fun. They hadn't meant any harm. "Just…. Don’t do it again.” He sighed. 

"You’re not going to tell Chiron, are you?” Malcolm whimpered. 

Nico shared a glance with Will, who shrugged. _It's your call_ , he seemed to say. Telling Chiron would mean making an official report, which would in turn mean admitting to Hades that a dangerous spirit had been released from the underworld on his watch. That was paperwork that Nico simply did not want to deal with today, or any day. But he wasn't going to tell these kids that. Nico had a lot of practice doling out just and appropriate punishments over the past year. 

"I won’t…. on a few conditions." He grinned slyly. "First, Jenna. From what I understand you started this whole mess. You are going to do a magickal cleansing of this bunker, all three of your cabins, and the big house. Malcolm, you didn't stop her, and a spirit was released from Hades. You get to leave a cheeseburger on my father's altar once a week as long as you're at camp. Maybe then he won't unleash his wrath upon the three of you." Seeing how Nico had fixed the situation, Hades probably wouldn't care, but they didn't need to know that. Nico got tired of eating underworld food and Hades would appreciate the attention. "And lastly, Harley. As reparation for my boyfriend taking time out of his busy schedule to help you three, you're going to fix Will's stethoscope. Today." 

The three demigods nodded, sitting stock still.

"What are you waiting for?" Will chided. "You heard the man! Get on it!" 

They scrambled to their feet and dashed out of the bunker, leaving the couple alone. Nico bonelessly flopped to the floor with a sigh, his legs sprawled before him. Will came over to sit beside him. 

"That took a lot out of you, didn't it?" He asked, gently grasping Nico's hand. Will could feel the exhaustion coursing through his boyfriend's veins. He wasn't strong enough to be shadow-traveling _three_ times a week _and_ dragging spirits to Hades- not yet, anyway. Nico grunted noncommittally, but Will knew it meant _yes._ Will chuckled. "I didn't know you could shadow-travel so dramatically. Making the smoke come out of the planchette like that? That was pretty creepy." 

Nico looked up from beneath his bangs and smiled, in that creepy way he did. "I wanted to give them a good scare-hopefully they won't do it again."

"I can't believe they managed to summon Lizzie Borden on the first try. I had no idea. I thought she had been executed, not died of pneumonia." Will mused.

Nico nodded. "Most people think she actually chopped her stepmother 40 times, too. Really her stepmother got 19, and her father, 11."

"So that's what "1911" was about. I was wondering about that. But the XL on Jenna's hand- that's 40 in Roman numerals, right?" Will raised an eyebrow. 

"She knows about the nursery rhyme, Will. It was in the papers before she died." 

Will nodded. "You could've just banished Lizzie, though. Did you have to drain yourself dragging her down into the underworld just for the dramatics, too?"

"Tch." Nico huffed. "Of course."

"I think I'm rubbing off on you." Will giggled. 

Nico simply shrugged. "I have to go back in a couple hours, before Hades figures out I'm gone." 

Will nodded, and rubbed circles on the back of Nico's hand. He was trembling. "I'd rather you not shadow-travel back to the underworld like this, but I understand that you have to. At least come to the infirmary, have some lunch, and take a nap, ok? I've got some unicorn draught stored away. What do you have to do today? Monster patrol?"

"No, just sitting on the panel of judgment. Boring stuff today, deciding the eternal fate of the dead." The sarcasm dripped from Nico’s words like honey.

"Ah yes, very boring." Will chuckled. "C’mon, milord." He said as he stood and held out a hand to help Nico up. "Your chambers await."

"You're a dork." Nico huffed as he let Will pull him up and steady him. 

Will smiled. "Takes one to know one, oh Lord of Dorkness." 

\---------

The next day, Will was very pleased to find a brand new celestial bronze stethoscope on his desk in the infirmary. It had settings for both mortal and demigod heartbeats and a timer for BPM and breathing patterns, and a self-warming feature installed. It was a lovely piece of machinery. He stopped by the Hades shrine behind Nico's cabin on his way to breakfast, and there in a bright yellow McDonald's wrapper was a double cheeseburger. 

Will smiled, and waited for the weekend.

**Author's Note:**

> Everything stated about Lizzie Borden is true to my knowledge, but please correct me if I'm wrong.  
> The nursery rhyme Harley was muttering in his sleep is:  
>  _Lizzie Borden took an axe,_  
>  _and gave her mother forty whacks,_  
>  _and when he saw what she had done,_  
>  _she gave her father forty-one._
> 
> "Magickal" is not a typo, it is a word used in witchcraft communities to distinguish actual craft (magick) from stage performance and fairy-tales (magic).  
> Jenna was created because I needed a child of Hecate, but Lou Ellen is too smart to mess with Oujia boards. I headcanon her as Vietnamese.  
> I have never personally used a Oujia board but I did a good bit of research and this work has been looked over by friends of mine who have. I do not condone the use of Ouija boars


End file.
